Page 78 - It's a Rum Life Book One "In the Beginning 1947 to 1960"

They are used to move grain from one place to another. In
fact if you stick one end into a “grain mountain” on the floor and
place the top end over a lorry body it will fill the lorry in double
quick time with only minimum shovelling necessary to keep the
open end of the auger at the bottom filled with grain.
The screw down the centre is powered by an electric motor
mounted on one end and driving the screw with a belt and
pulleys. The lengths of tube varied enormously; the width too,
come to that!
When they are particularly long they have supporting steel
rods running the length of the outside of the tube. These rods
prevent the tube buckling and bending the auger inside. Once in
position and suitably secured; the internal screw revolves rapidly
and spews grain out at a tremendous speed and pressure.

This one was long! It had those steel rods, two of them, one
on each side. A very large electric motor was mounted on one
end and I had been engaged to deliver it as a farmer client who
had decided he had nothing to move his corn and vehicles were
collecting it the same day!
Rundles own lorry was away for the whole day and the client
had made an urgent request for his auger to be delivered post
haste. If I remember correctly it over hung the truck by about
eight feet at the front and eight feet at the back; in which case it
must have been about 30 feet long. The front end was pointing
upwards and the bottom end complete with its motor, towards
the ground. The back had a huge flag attached and I was not
going very far, just to the other side of Boston, about 20 miles.
My auger nearly didn’t make it to its destination.

THE JOURNEY
For mile after mile I watched to the front meticulously but
there was never anything in my way. Arriving at the town

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